Category: Kenya

‘The High Court yesterday dismissed the group litigation brought on behalf of more than 40,000 claimants in the so-called Mau Mau case, after six years of work done by lawyers operating on a “no win, no fee” basis.’

‘The future of litigation being brought on behalf of more than 40,000 claimants in the so-called Mau Mau case is in doubt after the Court of Appeal refused permission to hear an appeal against a decision to dismiss the first test case.’

‘Kimathi & Ors v Foreign and Commonwealth Office [2018] EWHC 1305 (QB). Stewart J has recently dismissed the first test case in this group litigation, in which over 40,000 Kenyans bring claims for damages against the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, alleging abuse during the Kenyan Emergency of the 1950s and early 1960s, in Kimathi & Others v The Foreign and Commonwealth Office [2018] EWHC 2066 (QB). Jo Moore discusses this in her blog post of 6 August 2018.

Earlier this year however he considered, as a preliminary matter, whether fear, caused either by the tort of negligence or trespass, amounts to personal injury so that the Court has the discretionary power to exclude the 3-year limitation period which arises under section 11 of the 1980 Act. Stewart J concluded that “despite the comprehensive and innovative submissions of the Claimants” (para 37), which included arguments on human rights grounds, fear did not amount to a personal injury.’

‘Stewart J has dismissed the first test case in this group litigation, in which over 40,000 Kenyans bring claims for damages against the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, alleging abuse during the Kenyan Emergency of the 1950s and early 1960s.’

‘Compensation claims for torture, rape, wrongful detention and forced labour brought by 40,000 Kenyans who allege they were mistreated by British officials during the Mau Mau insurgency are due to be heard in the high court in London on Monday.’

“Since the 1950s, Mau Mau has often been synonymous with atavistic savagery. It was a grassroots movement that sought to end British rule in Kenya, and with it the privileges of an African minority loyal to colonialism. Comprised almost entirely of Kikuyu – Kenya’s largest ethnic group — Mau Mau perpetrated some heinous crimes. But, so, too, did the agents of British colonialism, and on an order of magnitude that dwarfed Mau Mau acts of violence.”

“Five elderly Kenyans detained and allegedly tortured during the Mau Mau independence uprising of more than 50 years ago are to issue a reparations claim against the British government in London next month.”